What Brothers Are For
by FlyingMachine1
Summary: When scouting ahead, Fili and Kili run into some trouble and find themselves injured with no way to get back to the company. Some Kili wump with protective older brother Fili!


**Hello, dear readers! This is my first and incredibly long Hobbit one shot! Woo! It's all meant to be brotherly love between Fili and Kili, so this isn't a slash fic if that's what you were looking for… Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit.**

The company of Thorin Oakenshield had just stopped for the night. The sun was setting low in the sky and all fifteen members of the band were tired out from a long day's ride.

"Fili! Kili!" Thorin called out to his nephews as the camp was being set up. "I want you two to scout ahead and make sure we have a clear path out of this forest for tomorrow morning."

The two youngest members of the group shared a weary glance and inwardly groaned. All the two dwarves wanted to do was sit down around the fire and eat dinner with everyone else.

Heavens help whoever dares to defy their uncle, however.

"Alright, we'll be back, then." said Fili to no one in particular as he practically dragged his brother behind him out of the warm camp and into the cold, darkening forest.

"Why is it we are always the ones who have to scout ahead?" grumbled Kili as the two brothers trudged their way through the forest. "Would it kill Thorin to send one of the other eleven dwarves out every once in a while?"

Fili sighed. "You know very well that as the youngest ones, we have certain responsibilities in this group," Fili smirked, "We can't just go sending out people like Balin into the cold, dark forest on their own!"

Kili, picking up on his brother's joking tone, quickly joined in.

"Yes, he would most likely fall and hurt his back!" snickered Kili as he glanced to his brother, returning the smirk with a quirked eyebrow.

"Most certainly! And we wouldn't want Balin to strain his old, aching joints!" Fili replied in an overly solicitous tone while placing a hand dramatically over his heart.

At this, Kili burst out laughing and Fili smiled to himself, privately taking pride in the fact that he could still make his little brother laugh like when they were children.

"Alright," Kili said after his laughter died down. "Maybe these scouting missions are okay."

"Well, at least the company isn't _that _bad." Fili returned, giving Kili a slight nudge. Kili looked over at his big brother and smiled, nudging him back.

The younger brother opened his mouth, just about to continue their earlier teasing of their older companions when suddenly a resounding _crack! _echoed from behind and the brothers froze.

Standing perfectly still, both dwarves looked back, searching with keen eyes for the source of the noise.

All was silent, but it was not a comforting stillness. There was a thick tension in the air, like the calm before the storm.

Just when Fili was about to suggest they should turn around and head back, a deafening roar rang through the forest as a massive warg jumped into view, sprinting forward straight towards its prey: the two young dwarves.

"RUN!" shouted Fili, pushing his brother in front of him as they both took off further into the forest.

Fili's breath was coming out in short gasps as he and Kili tore their way through the trees and underbrush. When Kili stumbled over a tree root and nearly toppled onto the ground, Fili reached out and steadied his brother, grasping the younger dwarf's hand as he continued to pull Kili along. As long as he was holding onto Kili, he could keep track of where he was and his baby brother, whom he had sworn to protect long ago, would be safe. At least that's what Fili told himself.

As they continued to run through the forest, the warg's inhuman screeches become louder and louder by the minute. They needed to think of a plan, and fast. They couldn't run back to camp to get help without risking the lives of their fellow dwarves, hobbit, and wizard. The two youngsters didn't want to risk fighting the warg either because, talented warriors as the two might be, taking on a full grown, angry warg in their now extremely tired and worn out conditions was not likely to end well.

Still running and holding the hand of his brother, Fili felt Kili once again stumble and the older brother looked back to check on him.

And for that split second, just one fraction of a moment, Fili did not look where he was running.

Head turned to face his brother, Fili suddenly saw Kili's eyes go wide as the latter shouted,

"Fili! _Stop!_" Fili whipped his head around to see that the two were running straight for the edge of a crevice.

And Fili stopped a split second, just a fraction of a moment, too late.

There was a moment that for the brothers, seemed to move in slow motion, where they both teetered precariously on the edge. But then, be it gravity or fate, decided to be cruel and the dwarves went toppling down into a rocky darkness.

Kili, who had registered what was about to happen seconds before they fell, had quickly wrapped his arms around his older brother in an attempt to envelop him in a protective embrace. _'After all,' _Kili thought guiltily, _'it was my damned clumsiness that's caused us to be falling right now in the first place.' _

The two dwarves tumbled down, Kili taking the brunt of the rocky beating as they bounced off the walls of the large fissure in the ground thanks to his protective hold on Fili.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the two brothers hit the bottom with a loud thud and then, all was still.

Fili blinked rapidly, trying to clear the stars from his eyes. Before he attempted to stand, he took a quick evaluation of himself for injuries. Legs bend? Yes, all good there. Ribs broken? Fili took a deep breath and winced. A little sore, but thankfully nothing too serious. Right arm? Yes, yes, everything flexed without trouble. Left arm? Yes, all was fi- '_ow…' _Fili thought as he attempted to bend his left wrist. Yep, that was broken. Fili remembered the feeling of a broken wrist. The last time he had felt it, had been when he was playing on those big rocks with Kili when they were-

"_Kili!_" Fili suddenly shouted, remembering his little brother. He lifted his head and ignored the painful pounding the movement caused as he looked desperately around for Kili. The older dwarf felt his stomach drop when he finally spotted his brother, who was lying on the ground, his prone form quiet and unmoving.

Fili quickly made his way over to Kili and pulled him up so he was resting in his lap. There was blood oozing from a cut that ran from Kili's temple up into his hairline, and his leg was bent at an odd, unnatural angle.

"Kili," Fili said as he attempted to rouse his brother. "Kili, wake up," Fili patted him on the cheek gently and waited with baited breath for any sign of Kili regaining consciences any time soon.

From in his older brother's lap, Kili groaned and his eyes fluttered open slowly.

"F-Fili?" the younger dwarf asked in a pain filled voice.

"Yes, Kili, I'm here." Fili replied with a sigh of relief.

"Fili, I-I'm s-sorry." croaked out Kili as Fili tore off a piece of his shirt and pressed it gently to the cut on his younger brother's head.

"_You're_ sorry?" asked Fili incredulously. "Who's the one who just acted as my personal dwarf shield?" Fili could now feel his emotions bubbling to the surface, the fatigue of the eventful day combined with the worry for his injured brother wearing him thin. "You're so stupid sometimes, you know that, Kili?"

Somewhere in Kili's pain riddled and concussed mind, a voice of reason was telling him that this was merely Fili's worry coming out in the form of anger, as it usually did, and he didn't really mean any of it. That voice, however, was currently drowned out by the waves of pain emanating from his leg and head, and the words were taken as truths in his confused mind.

Fili, not noticing his brother's brown eyes glinting with hurt and unshed tears, took Kili's hand and clamped it down on the cloth on his head to keep pressure on the gash and continued his rant as he checked Kili over for more injuries.

"You could have died! You should have been covering your own head, not mine! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you know!" Fili persisted angrily. "That's one of the first things Thorin taught us in our training when we were children. Always cover the head. Had you been doing that, you probably would have saved yourself from that gash!" In saying this, Fili gestured to the cut on Kili's head and as he did so, the older dwarf finally saw the look of hurt in his brother's eyes and abruptly ended his tirade and scooted his way back up so he was kneeling next to Kili's face.

"I-I'm sorry, F-Fili." Kili said again, this time in a quiet, teary voice.

Fili let out a heavy sigh. "Will you stop saying that?" this was said in a soft, affectionate tone. "If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I didn't mean to yell, I'm sorry."

"But," Kili swallowed hard, trying to hold back the throbbing pain coming from his injuries. "But I'm the one who s-stumbled. If it weren't for m-me, you wouldn't have looked back, we wouldn't have f-fallen."

"It could just as easily be my fault for not looking where I was going." Kili opened his mouth to argue, but Fili beat him to it. "Look, _I'm_ the older brother. It's my job to protect _you_, not the other way around." Fili carded the fingers of his good hand through Kili's hair in a fraternal manner. "No matter how many times you stumble, I will be there to catch you. That's what brothers are for."

Kili smiled up at his brother, for a moment forgetting his pain and merely reveling in the feeling of security that his older brother so often provided for him, before a particularly painful twinge from his leg caused him to wince.

Fili frowned. "Let me take a look at that leg." Fili moved so he was hovering over his brother's clearly broken leg and sucked in a sharp breath at the sight. It really didn't look good. Tenderly feeling his brother's leg, he noted that thankfully, the bone hadn't broken through the skin and it seemed to be a fairly clean break, but the bone was fractured in half and had moved out of place. That meant one thing.

Fili reached up and put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "I'm going to have to set the bone." he said in a low tone. He felt Kili stiffen under his touch. "Don't worry, I'll make it as quick and painless as I possibly can. Do you trust me?"

"Unconditionally." the younger dwarf replied without hesitation. Fili smiled reassuringly down at his little brother before getting into position above his broken leg.

"Alright, on the count of three." Fili placed his hands on either end of the broken bone and tried to ignore the way that simple movement caused Kili to flinch as well as the pain in his own wrist. "One, two," in one sharp tug, Fili pulled the fractured bone and manipulated it back into place. There was a resounding crack, quickly followed by a pained scream from Kili.

In a split second, Fili had gently put down his brother's leg and was sitting once again beside his head, combing his fingers comfortingly through his hair and whispering soothing bits of nonsense, hating the fact that he had caused his brother pain, even if it would help in the long run.

"W-what happened t-to three?" Kili asked in an attempt to lighten the mood through clenched teeth.

"Sorry, Kili," Fili said. "I thought it would hurt less if I took you by surprise."

"Well, I guess it's the thought that c-counts." mumbled the younger dwarf.

Fili smiled at his brother before setting about finding two sticks and tearing off some of his jerkin to tie the sticks together in a splint for Kili's broken leg.

As soon as that was done, Fili repeated the process, this time with his own broken wrist, not being able to ignore the pain any longer.

"s'your wrist 'k?" Fili frowned slightly at his brother's slurred speech, but decided to blame it on fatigue and exhaustion and not worry about it too much for the time being.

"Ya, it's not too bad, just a little break." Fili replied.

"Good," said Kili quietly before looking up and taking in their surroundings for the first time.

"Where're we, an'way, F'li?" mumbled Kili, his slurring becoming more prominent.

"Well, the good news," replied Fili as he settled down next to his brother and looked up. "is that we seem to have lost the warg!" Kili looked to Fili expectantly. "The bad news, however, is that we seem to have fallen down a rather steep crevice with no means of getting out any time soon."

Kili sighed and closed his eyes. "Thorin'll not be pleased."

"No, Kili, he probably will not be."

The two dwarves sat in silence for a few minutes, Fili keeping a constant, but gentle, pressure on his brother's head wound. Suddenly, Kili blinked rapidly and looked to Fili's injured wrist.

"What happened t'yer wrist?" questioned the younger brother. Fili looked to Kili with slight concern. Hadn't he already asked that?

"I broke it, remember?" Fili asked slowly. When his brother still showed no sign of remembering, Fili's concern grew.

"Well, s'it ok?"

Once again, Fili paused slightly before answering.

"Yes, it's just a little break. I told you this before, don't you remember?"

Kili shook his head, but winced and raised a hand to where Fili was holding a now bloody cloth over the gash.

"How'd this happen?" Kili slurred, sending Fili's distress to whole new levels. Fili remembered this kind of thing had happened to a dwarf in the forge once when they were younger. The dwarf had tripped and hit his head hard on one of the work tables and had memory loss for days. Fili recalled their mother going to sit up with the poor dwarf the night of the incident. She said she was going to keep him company because he had to stay awake for a while. She said if he fell asleep…

"Kili!" Fili shouted suddenly to his brother, whose eyes had begun to droop closed. "You must stay awake."

"Why?" Kili pouted, giving his brother slightly unfocused puppy dog eyes. "'m so tired. Only fer a few minutes,"

"No," Fili said firmly. "With a head would like yours, you might not wake up again." The older brother resisted to urge to physically cringe at the thought.

Kili looked at his brother in sleepy confusion.

"But-"

"Please, Kili. Just stay awake. For me."

Kili sighed, but resigned himself to staying awake. He would single handedly face the fiery wrath of Smaug for his brother as long as Fili added "for me" at the end of the request.

A sudden chilled wind blew its way through the crevice and the two dwarves shivered.

" 's cold, Fili." mumbled Kili.

"Well," Fili started, looking around them. "I could go look for some firewood."

"No," the younger dwarf quickly replied, reaching a hand out and latching onto Fili's sleeve. "don't leave me."

Fili put his own hand over his little brother's, which was rather cold, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I would only be gone for a few minutes and I wouldn't go too far away."

Kili shot his brother a look that was equal parts fear, suspicion, and confusion. Fili sighed and removed Kili's fingers from his sleeve, but didn't release his hold on the hand.

"I promise, Kili. I will be back." A sudden idea struck the older sibling. "I'll call back to you the whole way. Make sure you stay awake. How does that sound?"

Kili hesitated for a moment, but after another gust of particularly cold wind and a quite violent shiver, he made up his mind.

"F-fine, but not too far."

Fili gave his brother's shoulder one last reassuring squeeze before pushing himself up and heading for a clump of scraggly bushes not too far off.

"Can you hear me, Kili?" called Fili when he could no longer see his brother.

"Yes, I c-can hear y-you." came Kili's stuttered reply.

Fili wracked his brain trying to come up with some sort of stimulating conversation to keep his brother awake and alert, when a sudden thought struck him and he smirked.

"What shade of purple do you suppose Uncle will turn when he finds we're missing?" Fili heard the other dwarf give a weak chuckle before answering.

" m' guessing somewhere b'tween fuchsia and lilac."

Now it was Fili's turn to chuckle. "Oh, _fuchsia_?" Fili added a few more sticks to his nearly complete pile. "You think he'll be that mad?"

"Well, you 'member how mad he was when we-" Fili froze as his brother's response was abruptly cut off.

"Kili?" when his call got no reply, Fili immediately threw down his wood and sprinted to his brother.

As he rounded the last corner, Fili was met with a sight that made his heart clench with worry.

Kili had leaned over to prop himself up on his side and was now proceeding to empty the contents of his stomach all over the ground next to him.

Fili quickly rushed over to his brother's side and knelt down alongside him.

"Oh, my dear baby brother," he said soothingly as he rubbed gentle circles on Kili's back.

Once Kili was finished purging his stomach, he collapsed, exhausted, against his brother's side.

"C-can I sleep yet?"

More than anything Fili wanted to tell his little brother yes, he could go to sleep and big brother would watch over him, as he always did. Thinking back to the memory of the poor dwarf from the forges, however, Fili knew his brother had to stay awake. There were some things even Fili couldn't protect Kili from.

Fili softly adjusted his brother so that he was resting more comfortably in his lap.

"I'm sorry, Kee. You know what might happed if you fall asleep, though." Kili let out a shaky sigh and leaned further into his brother's comforting embrace.

"'m cold, Fee." Fili sighed and tried to rub some warmth into the younger dwarf's arms. He had dropped the firewood a ways back and was reluctant to leave his brother again to go get it.

As Kili's shivering became more violent, Fili gently gathered his brother into his arms and held him close to his chest in an attempt to share some body heat. When Kili instinctively curled in closer to the blonde, Fili smiled, remembering how he used to cradle his little brother in the same way when they were children.

Once Kili had been born, little Fili had been eager for his brother to learn how to walk so they could go off on adventures together, but after growing tired of waiting, Fili took it upon himself to carry his baby brother with him everywhere he went. He would show him around the town, introducing him to practically everyone they met (_"This is my baby brother, Kili! He's only little, so I'm taking care of him." he would proclaim proudly)_. He would hold the younger one identically to how he was holding him now, in a highly protective, yet uncannily gentle and affectionate manner.

"Oh, Kili," sighed Fili as he allowed his chin to rest on his brother's dark haired head. "What am I going to do with you?" Kili lifted his head and looked up with confusion clouding his eyes. "Don't you know you make me age at least five years every time you get hurt?" The younger dwarf grinned and let his head fall back onto Fili's chest.

"I'll be 'kay," Kili turned his head and buried his face in the furs of his brother's coat, adding in a muffled voice, "'s long as you're here, I'll be okay."

Fili's heart swelled with affection at his brother's trusting tone. In that moment, he silently thanked any higher power that might be listening for giving him Kili.

Fili hugged his brother tighter. "I love you so much, Kili. I would never leave you." The blonde brushed his brother's unruly bangs aside and planted a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Love you too, Fee." Had there been any doubt about the sincerity of this statement, it would have been immediately wiped away by the look of depthless affection in Kili's eyes as he gazed up at his big brother.

The two settled into a comfortable silence after that, Fili occasionally giving Kili a gentle shake when the younger dwarf started to nod off.

Suddenly from above, there was a snapping of twigs as something made its way across the forest floor. For a terrible moment, fear caused Fili's heart to flutter and his body to curl protectively around the precious burden in his lap, his mind taunting him with images of the warg returning to finish off his now helpless prey.

A moment later, however, Fili nearly cried with relief as a deep, all familiar voice shouted,

"Fili! Kili!"

"Thorin!" Fili yelled. "Thorin, we're down here!" For a second, there was silence from above and Fili feared that their uncle had not heard him, but then a well-known, imposing form was silhouetted against the morning sky above them.

"Oh, thank Durin," Thorin breathed in relief. "Are you two okay?"

Fili looked down at his brother, who gazed back up at him with weary, unfocused eyes. "Kili's in bad shape. He has a broken leg and a nasty head wound."

Thorin bit back a curse as his anxiety level grew. "And you?" he called down, knowing that his eldest nephew always needed prompting to admit his own injuries when his little brother was hurt, in fear that Kili wouldn't receive medical attention first.

"I'm fine. Just a broken wrist." As Fili said this, two more heads, Bofur and Dwalin, appeared over the edge of the crevice.

"Gotten yourselves in a bit of a jam, lads?" called down Bofur.

"Yes, we can't seem to get ourselves out of here while injured. Some assistance would be greatly appreciated." The blonde shouted back, adding a soft apology to his brother as he saw Kili cringe, the loud yelling not mixing well with his already throbbing head.

Thorin studied the sides of the crevice for another moment before returning to his pony, grabbing a length of rope, and motioning Gloin and Bombur forward.

"You two hold this end of the rope," Thorin handed them one end. "Dwalin and I will climb down, grab the boys, and climb back up."

After the two dwarves nodded in understanding, the rope was tossed down and the plan repeated to the two young Durins, who also nodded in comprehension.

Dwalin and Thorin carefully made their way down to Fili and Kili. When Thorin knelt down to examine his nephews, Kili perked up and chuckled softly,

"Y' know," he slurred. "we made it d'wn here 'lot faster than you did."

Thorin frowned. "How long has he been slurring his speech like that?"

Fili sighed and ran his fingers through Kili's hair. "Practically the whole time we've been down here."

"How _did _you manage to get yourselves down here?" questioned Dwalin.

"A warg," Fili scowled. "It came out of nowhere. We where running away from it when I didn't look where we were going and we fell."

"Not yer fault, Fili." Kili mumbled as Thorin gently peeled back the makeshift bandage to examine his youngest nephew's head wound.

Fili smiled lovingly down at his brother and gave him a slight squeeze.

"You did well keeping him awake, Fili." complimented Thorin as he replaces the bloodstained strip of cloth on Kili's head. "The gash is pretty bad, but I think he should be able to get some sleep pretty soon."

"Thank Mahal." Kili sighed in relief.

"How exactly are you planning on getting Kili out of here?" asked Fili.

Thorin frowned worriedly down at Kili's broken leg. "Do you think you can climb onto my back, Kili?"

"I can certainly try." said the young dwarf. With the help of his brother, Kili managed to stand long enough to wrap his arms around his uncle's neck. "This's jus' like when I was a kid." he slurred.

Thorin smiled slightly as he grabbed the rope and began hefting his nephew and himself up, aided by Bombur and Gloin pulling them from the top.

"You're a lot heavier now, however." Thorin panted out with a smirk.

"Don't tell me it's too much for th' great Thorin Oakenshield?"

"Just shut up and hold on." the elder Durin grouched, although a smile threatened to spread across his face.

Finally, Thorin and Kili were pulled to the top and the younger was sat on the ground with his broken leg splayed out in front of him while Oin rushed over with his bag of assorted medical supplies.

Back down in the crevice, Dwalin grabbed Fili's good hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Alright lad," Dwalin turned around and motioned to his back. "Up you get."

"Dwalin, I'm perfectly capable of getting up on my own." Fili said stubbornly. "I didn't climb up earlier because I didn't want to leave Kili behind."

Dwalin rolled his eyes at the young dwarf. "You're going to climb a rope with a broken wrist?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, you're good lad, but you're not that good."

Fili looked obstinately at the rope for a moment, then back down at his splinted wrist. Heaving a defeated sigh, Fili climbed grudgingly onto Dwalin's back.

"Thanks, Dwalin." Fili said softly as the older dwarf began to climb the rope.

"Just don't make this a regular occurrence, lad." Dwalin chuckled. "Thorin nearly yanked his beard out with worry when you two didn't come back to camp."

Fili chuckled too then. Although his uncle had an exterior as hard as the lonely mountain itself, he did have a soft spot when it came to his company, especially his two young nephews.

"Believe me, Dwalin, I don't plan on doing this again any time soon."

The two dwarves finally made their way to the top and Fili slid off Dwalin's back, offering a few more words of thanks to the big dwarf before he made his way over to his brother, whose leg had been bandaged and put into a proper splint. Oin was currently wrapping a bandage soaked in some herby smelling ointment around his head wound.

"Hey, Kee," he greeted as he sat down next to the younger dwarf. "How are you feeling?"

Kili smiled over at his brother. "A lot better thanks to the wonderful work of Mister Oin here!"

"You want me to plaster on a beard? No, I'm afraid I can't do that, lad."

Kili and Fili exchanged an amused glance before Fili held up Oin's ear trumpet to the elderly dwarf's ear and Kili repeated loudly,

"I said you're doing wonderful work!"

"Oh! Thank you, laddie!" the two younger dwarves laughed as Oin moved on to re-splinting Fili's wrist. "Aule knows I've had enough practice on the two of you over the years!"

It was true. When they had been younger (and still today, their uncle would argue), Fili and Kili had managed to earn a wide variety of injuries from their many adventures and schemes, and it had always been Mister Oin who fixed them up in the end.

"There you are, all done." proclaimed Oin as he finished tying on Fili's splint.

"Thank you, Oin."

"You ate a coin? Oh my, well, I think I may have a potion of some sort to help…"

Fili just laughed and shook his head at the confused older dwarf.

"Are you two ready to head back to camp?" asked Thorin as he came to check on his sister-sons. Fili cast Kili a questioning glance and at the younger brother's nod, turned back to Thorin and nodded.

Just as Fili was about to help Kili up, a sudden thought occurred to him and he turned to Oin, waiting for the old healer to raise his ear trumpet before asking,

"Can Kili sleep yet?"

Seeing the hopeful look on both the brother's faces, Oin smiled as he replied,

"Yes, the head wound seems to be healing rather nicely. In fact, I do believe sleep would be the best thing for both of you right now."

"You ride with me then, Kili." said Fili as he slung his brother's arm over his shoulders and helped him hobble over to the ponies. "You can sleep on the way."

"What about you, Fili? Oin said we both needed sleep."

"I'll sleep when we get back to camp; we're not too far away. And besides," Fili took in his brother's drooping eyelids. "you look like you're about to fall asleep standing up. We can't have you falling off your pony after Oin's just fixed you up!"

Kili sighed but relented. He allowed himself to be helped up into the saddle, sitting in front of his brother. As the company began to make their way back to the camp, Kili leaned back and rested his head against his brother's shoulder.

"Thanks, Fili."

"For what?"

"For watching over me."

Fili wrapped an arm around Kili's waist and pressed a soft kiss into the now sleeping dwarf's dark hair.

"I always will, little brother. I always will."

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! Since this is my first Hobbit story, I would really appreciate any reviews or constructive criticism you could give me! **


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